Duke Splits with Georgia Tech as Yixuang Chan, Caio Pumputis Win Three Each

Georgia Tech's Caio Pumputis -- Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

Duke Splits with Georgia Tech as Yixuang Chan, Caio Pumputis Win Three Each

The Duke Blue Devils hosted Georgia Tech Saturday in the second meet of the Yellow Jackets’ North Carolina road trip. Previously, the GT men beat UNC while the women fell to the Tar Heels, and it was a similar story in Durham as Duke’s women dominated and finished on top 199-101, while Georgia Tech’s men won convincly, 173-127.

For Duke’s women, freshman Yixuan Chang was the standout performer. She won the 200 free by almost four seconds in 1:48.01, and then she won the 500 free by 4.5 seconds (4:54.22). Finally, she withstood a challenge from teammate Catherine Belyakov to win the 200 IM, 2:02.62 to 2:03.90. Belyakov was also the winner of the 100 breast (1:02.82) and 200 breast (2:17.28) while 2021 NCAA Championships qualifier Sarah Foley did not compete in this meet.

Another Duke freshman, Mckenna Smith, won the 50 free (23.69) and 100 free (50.95) and then blasted a 49.85 to anchor Duke’s 400 free relay to a three-tenth win over the Yellow Jackets. Smith made up a deficit of more than a second on the anchor leg.

For Georgia Tech, fifth-year swimmer Caio Pumputis was impressive as always. Pumputis won the 100 breast (54.17) dominated the 200 breast (1:58.26) and then barely held off teammate Berke Saka to win the 200 IM, 1:49.71 to 1:49.73. Saka, meanwhile, was the winner of the 100 back (48.86) and 200 back (1:47.53).

Mert Kilavuz continued his strong weekend after winning the 1000 free and 500 free against UNC. At Duke, he captured first in the 1650 free (15:32.96) and 500 free (4:26.14). Georgia Tech’s Baturalp Unlu won the 200 free (1:37.94) and 100 free (45.17), and teammate Christian Ferraro won the 200 fly (1:47.15) and 100 fly (48.17).

Check out full results from the meet here.

Read the full press release from Duke below:

The Duke swimming and diving team split meets with Georgia Tech on Saturday at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. The 24th-ranked Duke women beat the Yellow Jackets, 199-101, while the men came up short to No. 19 Georgia Tech, 127-173.

The Duke women improved to 4-0 to start the 2021-22 season, its best start since the 2015-16 season. It is just the fifth time Duke has opened the season 4-0 since 1980.

“We were very proud of how we competed today,” head coach Dan Colella said. “This was the third straight week of racing and they have improved every week. We needed individuals to really step up today and they responded well. This was true team effort. They have set themselves up very nicely heading into the fall invitational in two weeks.”

Freshman Yixuan Chang continued her impressive form, taking first in all three individual events she competed in. Chang clocked a career-best 1:48.01 in the 200 freestyle, while touching in 4:54.22 in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Catherine Purnell placed second in the 500 freestyle (4:58.78). In the 200 individual medley, Chang led a sweep of the top three spots with a time of 2:02.62 while sophomore Catherine Belyakov and Purnell recorded marks of 2:03.90 and 2:05.63, respectively.

Belyakov took the top spot in two other events in addition to her second place finish in the 200 individual medley. The Gaithersburg, Md., native touched first in the 100 (1:02.82) and 200 breaststroke (2:17.28). Purnell placed first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:58.76.

The Duke tandem of junior Emma Shuppert and sophomore Emily Lenihan controlled the backstroke events. Shuppert took first in the 100 backstroke (55.04) and second in the 200 backstroke (2:03.61), while Lenihan placed second in the 100 and first in the 200 with times of 56.05 and 2:01.06, respectively.

Freshman McKenna Smith won two individual events for the Blue Devils, taking the 50 and 100 freestyle and touching in 23.69 and 50.95, respectively. In the 50 freestyle, Smith led a sweep of the top three spots in the event, followed by sophomore Sarah Snyder (23.71) and freshman KyAnh Truong (23.73).

Rookie Margo O’Meara once again showed her skills on the springboards, recording the top scores on both the one- and three-meter boards against an experienced Georgia Tech diving squad. The St. Louis, Mo., native scored 319.50 on the one-meter board and 348.98 in the three-meter event.

Duke also took the top spot in both relay events. Duke opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay behind the quartet of Shuppert, Belyakov, Truong and Smith with a time of 1:40.08. In the 400 freestyle, Duke’s team of Chang, graduate student Alicia Harrison, Purnell and Smith placed in 3:25.94.

On the men’s side, Duke opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore David Chang, senior Cole Reznick, junior Charlie Gingrich and senior Matthew Whelan took the top spot in the event with a time of 1:28.94.

Gingrich recorded the top Duke time in both the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He placed first in the 50 freestyle (20.84) to lead the Blue Devils to a strong sweep of the top three spots. Junior Brad Sanford placed second in the event with a time of 20.87 while junior Coleman Kredich touched third in 20.90. Gingrich and Sanford also placed second and third in the 100 butterfly with times of 49.12 and 49.69, respectively.

Senior David Hallaron notched a pair of second place finishes for Duke. He recorded marks of 1:39.58 in the 200 freestyle and 1:48.73 in the 200 backstroke. Senior Cole Reznick was the top Duke finisher in the 100 and 200 breaststroke as he placed second in each event with times of 54.93 and 2:02.24, respectively.

Other Blue Devils that placed second in their respective events in the pool were Chang (100 backstroke, 49.40), sophomore Brendan Driscoll (1,650 freestyle, 15:56.82) and sophomore Chris Dalla Valle (200 butterfly, 1:51.04)

Senior Harel Anolick took second and rookie Will McCollum took third in both the diving events. In the one-meter competition, Anolick scored 318.68 while McCollum followed with 317.40. Anolick recorded a 350.63 in the three-meter event as McCollum scored 320.33.

Read the full press release from Georgia Tech below:

Georgia Tech swimming and diving completed its North Carolina road trip at Duke. The No. 19 men’s side beat Duke 199-101 while the women’s team fell 173-127 to the No. 24 ranked women’s team of Duke.

Ruben Lechuga posted a career high on the 3-meter board (391.13) taking the top spot in the event. He also took the top spot on the 1-meter board (330.08).

Camryn Hidalgo was the top women’s diver on the day posting scores of 307.20 and 341.70 on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, respectively.

This was the first time the Yellow Jackets competed in the 1650 free on the season. Mert Kilavuz, who set the program record in the 1000 free on Friday, was 16.77 seconds short of a B cut time clocking in at 15:32.96. On the women’s side, Morgan Johnson touched first in the 1650 free with a time of 17:30.35.

Defne Taçyildiz swam another B cut time in the 200 fly (1:59.18). Caio Pumputis continued his strong times in the 100 breast (54.17) and 200 breast (1:58.26) with two more B cut times.

The Jackets took the top spots in the women’s 1650 free (Johnson, 17:30.35), men’s 1650 free (Kilavuz, 15:32.96), men’s 200 free (Batur Ünlü, 1:37.94), men’s 100 back (Berke Saka, 48.66), men’s 100 breast (Pumputis, 54.17), men’s 200 fly (Christian Ferraro, 1:47.15), men’s 100 free (Ünlü, 45.17), men’s 200 back (Saka, 1:47.53), men’s 200 breast (Pumputis, 1:58.26), men’s 500 free (Kilavuz, 4:26.14), women’s 100 fly (Zora Ripkova, 54.98), men’s 100 fly (Ferraro, 48.17), men’s 200 IM (Pumputis, 1:49.71), men’s 400 free relay (Ünlü, Justin Alderson, Ferraro, Daniel Kertesz, 2:59.55), men’s 1-meter (Lechuga, 330.08) and men’s 3-meter (Lechuga, 3:91.13).

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